SPP and Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. stakeholders last week approved a scope for a joint study to determine the existence of any mutually beneficial transmission projects, enabling them to continue with their agreement to conduct a biennial study.

The SPP-AECI Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting was held April 4 during the Seams Steering Committee meeting in Dallas.

A joint planning committee will determine the cost allocation of any potential projects on a case-by-case basis, with costs assigned equitably based on the constraint being resolved.

Should any projects be identified, SPP will solicit detailed proposals, similar to those used for its Order 1000 competitive projects.

The groups’ 2016 joint study identified a pair of projects that is still awaiting final regulatory approval.

TSR Proposal

The seams committee also discussed a draft business practice for unreserved use of the transmission system. The draft envisions three days for entities to submit transmission service requests (TSRs) for unreserved use, allowing them to avoid usage charges. After three days of unreserved use, a TSR would be required.

February M2M Results in $3.97M Charge to MISO

SPP and MISO’s market-to-market (M2M) process resulted in a nearly $4 million payment to SPP for February, the seventh straight month, and the 15th of a total of 17 M2M months, that MISO has paid its seams partner.

SPP has now received almost $48 million in M2M payments since the two RTOs began the process in March 2015, staff told the SSC.

SPP’s Nashua-Hawthorn and Riverton-Neosho-Blackberry flowgates accounted for most of the charges, binding for a combined 430 hours in January because of high winds and outages. That resulted in $3.4 million of the MISO payments to SPP.

— Tom Kleckner